1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a tape recorder, equipped with a loading mechanism for a tape cassette, which is chiefly installed in an automotive vehicle as a car audio apparatus for is used as a stationary or a portable audio device in a home for recording and producing music and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recent technical development in an audio-related field is characterized in that development of digital audio technology has been gradually intensified and digital audio systems have been expanding their share in the market, becoming competitive with analogue audio systems. An outstanding advantage of digital recording and reproducing technology is that it enables a tape recorder to realize the reproduction with high fidelity. Presently, there are two systems proposed, namely the R-DAT system having a rotary head and the S-DAT system having a stationary head.
The S-DAT system has a construction similar to that of an analogue tape recorder apparatus because it has a stationary-type magnetic head. Thus, the head and a tape cassette used for the S-DAT are both similar to those of the analogue tape recorder apparatus.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop a new tape recorder apparatus compatible with either of these two different kinds of tape cassettes and a new tape recorder apparatus capable of recording or reproducing both analogue and digital signals is now expected soon in the market.
An analogue tape cassette, i.e., an analogue compact cassette (hereinafter, referred to as an ACC), has a configuration which is made thick at a front end opening portion which is constructed to house various components such as a magnetic head and pinch rollers and the like.
On the other hand, a digital tape cassette, i.e., a digital compact cassette (hereinafter, referred to as a DCC) is constructed to have a shutter slidably provided with respect to a front end opening portion which accommodates a magnetic head and pinch rollers and the like. This shutter is positioned in its home position to close this front end opening portion when this tape is not in use, and is slid widely toward either the same direction as a travelling direction of a tape or the opposite direction to open the front end opening portion when the digital tape is used.
A single tape recorder is proposed for realizing the recording and the reproducing of both analogue and digital signals. This proposed tape recorder is constituted to realize the loading of such different tape cassettes in the same tape recorder, namely one originally designed for a digital tape cassette equipped with a shutter.
The analogue tape recorder, however, also has a loading mechanism for the exclusive use of ACC. For effective utilization of such a loading mechanism, it is desirable to use this popular loading mechanism for the new tape recorder apparatus which is capable of recording and reproducing both analogue and digital audio signals.
A great amount of cost and time for the development and the manufacturing can be saved if the modification for fitting to both the analogue and digital tape cassettes can be done simply by a relatively minor change.
Furthermore, this has the advantage that the already existing production .Line #or mass-producing analogue loading mechanisms can be effectively utilized for producing the new compatible tape recorder capable of recording and reproducing with both ACC and DCC, as well as the analogue tape recorder exclusively used for the ACC.
One such analogue tape recorder apparatus is explained hereinafter with reference to FIG. 21 to 25.
FIG. 21 is a partial perspective plan view of the known analogue tape recorder apparatus. FIG. 22 is a side view of the same analogue tape recorder apparatus.
In the drawing is shown a tape cassette 31, and 32 represents a reel shaft insertion hole. Further, 33 represents a holder for holding the tape cassette 31. The holder 33 is constituted by a base plate having curled edges formed at the left end thereof. The base plate of the holder 33 is disposed in parallel with the insertion direction of the ACC tape cassette 31. The ACC tape cassette 31 is manually inserted into the holder 33 from the left along the arrow shown in FIG. 21.
34 denotes a retainer member for retaining the ACC tape cassette 31. This retainer member 34 is basically constituted by a hook 34a and an arm 34b. See FIG. 23. The hook 34a is positioned at the left end of the retainer member 34 and the arm 34b extends horizontally in a right-and-left direction. The hook 34a is formed in a wedge shape so as to be engaged in the reel shaft insertion hole 32. In more detail, the hook 34a is designed to extend downward into the holder 33, so that it abuts to the ACC tape cassette 31 when the ACC tape cassette 31 is inserted into the holder 33.
A shift member 35 is pivotally supported about its shaft, disposed at a rear edge of the tape recorder unit. The shift member 35 can cause a swing movement for shifting the ACC tape cassette 31. This shift member 35 is constituted by an arm member extending in a back-and-forth direction in parallel with the holder 33 inwardly, a slider member connected with the end of this arm member and disposed centrallyso as to slide in a right-and-left direction, and a guide member having an elongated groove for receiving the slide member.
This shift member 35 functions to load the manually inserted ACC tape cassette toward the right or, to the contrary, unloading this ACC tape cassette 31 toward the left. The ACC tape cassette 31 is thus shifted along the arrow shown in FIGS. 21 and 22 from a first position where the ACC tape cassette 31 is locked by the retainer member 34 to a second position where the ACC tape cassette 31 is placed to confront a head and pinch rollers so as to realize a recording or reproduction of the ACC tape.
Next, an operation of this analogue tape recorder is explained with reference to FIGS. 23 and 24.
As described above, retainer member 34 has hook 34a at the left end of the elongated arm 34b to engage with reel shaft insertion hole 32. The elongated arm 34b is made by a resilient material so as to flexibly bend in an up-and-down direction.
When the ACC tape cassette 31 is manually inserted in the holder 33, hook 34a of retainer 34 first hits the right edge of the ACC tape cassette 31. The resilient arm 34b is then bent by being pressed by the manual pushing force, and in turn the hook 34a rides on the upper surface 31a of the ACC tape cassette 31, as shown in FIG. 24(a).
If the ACC tape cassette 31 is pushed further inward from this condition, the reel shaft insertion hole 32 of the tape cassette 31 comes to the position where the hook 34a directly confronts this reel shaft insertion hole 32. Hook 34a then immediately engages with this reel shaft insertion hole 32 by the springback force of the resilient arm 34b. Thus, the ACC tape cassette 31 is held at a predetermined position, as shown in FIG. 24(b).
Thereafter, the ACC tape cassette 31 is shifted to the second position by the aid of the shift member 35.
As apparent from the above description, in accordance with this known analogue tape recorder apparatus, the retainer member 34 is made for only engaging with the same tape cassette, i.e., the ACC tape cassette 31, for the purpose of exclusive use for analogue tape cassettes.
However, at present, the digital tape cassette is not made in the same configuration as the analogue tape cassette. As shown, in FIGS. 25(a) and 25(b), the ACC 1 and the DCC 2 are of slightly different configuration in their thicknesses, the locations of their discrimination holes and the like.
In case of the ACC 1, there are provided a pair of reel shaft insertion holes 1a, 1a, each associated with a reel hub 1b serving for winding a magnetic tape. Furthermore, ACC 1 has a thick portion 1c, being made thick in a widthwise direction at a front end opening portion (not shown), which is constructed to house various components such as a magnetic head and pinch rollers and the like.
On the other hand, in the DCC 2, there is provided a grip slot 2a for gripping of the DCC 2 in the loading operation. Moreover, the DCC 2 is constructed to have a shutter 2b slidably provided to cover a front end opening portion (not shown) which accommodates a magnetic head and pinch rollers and the like. Though DCC 2 has a pair of reel hubs 2c, 2c, they are different from the reel hubs 1b, 1b of the ACC 1 in that the reel hubs 2c, 2c are not opened to the upper surface of the DCC 2, i.e., the reel hubs 2c, 2c are opened only toward the lower surface of the DCC 2 so as to couple with the reel shaft.
In this manner, the ACC 1 and the DCC 2 have basically the same overall configuration, but have slightly different configurations in their detailed structure.
Therefore, the analogue tape recorder apparatus that is exclusively used for the ACC tape cassette is not directly useable for the DCC tape cassette without modification.